The boy's stepfather, 53-year-old Lope O. Charvet, was arrested at a residence in the 3200 block of Autumn Chase Circle on a charge of attempted homicide.

When officers arrived at 10:23 p.m., they found the bloody boy being held by his uncle in the living room.

Others inside the northwest Stockton house were hysterical, according to the police, because he had been stabbed several times and the suspect was still upstairs armed with a knife.

Because the crime scene remained active and unsafe for medics to enter, a quick-acting Perry grabbed the boy to bring him outside for medical treatment.

"The officer looked at him, saw that he needed immediate attention and, thinking quickly on his feet, took him outside," said Officer Joe Silva, a police department spokesman. "He took off running with the boy."

Perry has been a member of the the Stockton Police Department since 2000.

"When Perry grabbed the boy, the boy clinched the officer's uniform shirt and looked him right in the eye and asked him to not let him die," Silva said. "When Perry got the boy to the medics, the boy told the officer, Thank you.' "

The boy drifted in and out of consciousness during the ordeal.

Investigating officers determined that the suspect was the boy's step-father. According to police reports, they went upstairs and discovered the suspect had barricaded himself in a bedroom.

They forced entry and found the suspect leaning against the door with multiple self-inflicted stab wounds. "We have no idea why the stepfather acted the way he did," Silva said.

Both Charvet, the stepfather, and the boy were taken to a local hospital. The boy was then transported to the University of California, Davis, Medical Center in Sacramento and is listed in critical, but stable condition.

Charvet has since been booked at the San Joaquin County Jail on attempted homicide charges.

Said Silva: "We always hear stories of how officers are heroic and perform life-saving measures, but when the officer is one of your own, it makes you feel very proud to be a member of the Stockton Police Department."